St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-04-14
A TRIP TO CALIFoRNIA---NO. vi.

OF all the fair sights that ever came
to mortal vision it seems to me none
can excel the one which met the wri-
ter's gaze as he stepped out upon the
veranda of The Raymond at South
Pasadena on the bright morning of
March Odd Where is Pasadena and
what is the Raymond : Pasadena is
an Indian name and means in United
States lingo, "The Crown of the Val
lew 1t is situated in the San Gabriel
valley about nine miles from Los An
geles, which, by the way, is the com
ing city of Southern California, and
nearly 500 south of San Francisco.
Some IA years ago company of East
ern men bought a tract of 1000 acres
of land here and have laid out town
which they call Pasadena. By good
management they induced a good class
of settlers to locate here. But not until
within a year or two has any great
"boom" struck the place. At present,
however, it is at fever heat and every
other man seems to have lost his head.
But what of the natural advantages
and beauties of Pasadena The face
of the country is slightly undulating;
the soil rich and mellow the water
(what there is of it pure mountain
streams; the streets wide and careful
ly laid out the sidewalks excellent
the public and private buildings "a
credit to an Eastern town of three
times its size the gardens and lawns
and fields blossom with flowers and
are studded with fine orange groves
and vineyards. This is Pasadena now
a town of from three to four thousand
souls. How did | see itP Imagine a
small symmetrical hill rising to hight
of two or three hundred feet in the
midst of this valley whose crown after
being graded down measures about an
acre and half. On this summit has
been erected the past year the Ray
mOnd hotel, house of ample proper
tiOns, elegant architecture and finish
and beautiful for situation. From the
veranda OF this house there is an I'M
Obstructed view of the San Gabriel
valley in every direction. At the
north and cast, several miles away but |
looking very near, is the range of ST.
ezra Madre mountains, towering so
high that the tops of the highest are
snow crowned. To the South and !
West are distant hills, but not high
enough to Obstruct the view to the |
Pacific ocean in a clear day, some 30 |
miles away. Between these mountains |
and hills for miles and miles, the fair
valley is dotted with orange groves,
vineyards and handsome residences.
1t is only about three miles to the fla
nous Rose estate of oranges, lemons,
walnuts, apricOts and grapes, which
has lately been sold to an English syn
dictate for nearly million of dollars.
A few miles to the north of this estate |
is "Lucky Baldwin's" place, even more
attractive in some respects than Roses,
while Chapman's, Schwab's and many |
lesser vineyards and groves are on ev
cry side. In one vineyard which we
drove around the rows of vines were il
mile long and as straight as ii line can
be drawn.
The Raymond was built 10y EmmOns
Raymond and his son, Walter Ray
mOnd of excursion fame. 1t was Il
great venture, but has been filled ever
since it was opened. In fact it is the
only first class hotel in Southern Cali
fOrnia, unless the Arlington at Santa
Barbara is excepted. Its excellence is
no doubt largely due to the fact that
it is managed by C. H. Merrill, so long
the manager of the Crawford house at
the White mountains, who brought all
his help from that house ut an expense
of $4,000 in railroad fares alone. 1t is
just such house as eastern people can
appreciate.
1t is in this valley, and about a mile
and a half north west of the Raymond,
that the ''city" of Pasadena is situated.
The centre and business part of the town
is located in a basin, (the worst fea
ture about the town on account of drain
age,) while the best of the residence
part is on gently slOping elevations
about it.
Two miles or so south is South Pas
adena, place as yet of small proper
tions but with abundance of room to
grow. In this locality are Messrs.
Charles Packard, j. B. SOper, .Renfrew
and Peterson, while at the main viii
lage are found Messrs. Thomas Bow
man, Clarence Preston, Robert Harlow,
William Carpenter, and Frank Ran
dali and Smith of Lyndonville. NJ. j.
Quimby of our town and VIM. Young
of Lyndonville are both employed ut I
the Raymond. Messrs. Packard and
SOper have each erected pleasant
houses on ample lots i'm the centre of
South Pasadena. If the town grows i
much, as now seems inevitable, their
lots will be needed for business pur
poses and they will doubtless move ,
away from the centre. The st. Johns !
bury men are all hard at work at their ;
trades and trying, as one expressed it,
"to keep off of the town." AS good
mechanics get from S3 to "a day, and ,
as these men invest their earnings in {
land which is constantly advancing in
off the town" is exceedingly fiattering.
Mr.. Smith, formerly merchant at
Lyndonville, who came here for his {